Hacker News Reader

mr3martinison Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

Congrats on making the change! That sounds like a much better situation for all around.

mr3martinison Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?

Did you transition from dev to gardener? If so, I’d be curious about your story.

mr3martinison In New York City, congestion pricing leads to marked drop in pollution

DC doesn't have a congestion charge that restricts all access to the city but it has dynamic toll road pricing that can hit rates that are far more expensive than NYC's congestion charge. It would be interesting to see an analysis comparing these 2 programs in terms of their effect on transit and air quality as well as the economics and public perception of each.

mr3martinison Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

Herzog talks about actually hauling the boat over the hill in Fitzcaraldo because audiences can tell real from fake. Nowadays even movies that don’t use special effects rely much more on editing and post processing. Movies shot on film feel more connected to what actually happened on set.

mr3martinison Bring bathroom doors back to hotels

At least in the US, the design choice of barn door or no door might also be driven by ADA compliance. You have to provide a lot of space to meet all the accessibility requirements and a hinged door can make the minimum square footage much higher than you’d think.

mr3martinison Responses from LLMs are not facts

Bosses love it when you call them foolish.

mr3martinison Samsung teams up with Glance to use your face in AI-generated lock screen ads

I just left a company that’s enabling the preloads of this product and the ‘opt-in campaign’ will be full screen, aggressive, and difficult or impossible to stop depending on the device model.

mr3martinison Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

Major retailers for sure but DC stores are typically more compact than their suburban counterparts. IMO it’s great. I far prefer the small WF in Logan Circle to a giant one in NOVA - it’s much faster to get in and out and still has everything I need.

mr3martinison A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

You could say the same thing about colonial Williamsburg. The list seems focused on removing restrictions and red tape. It doesn’t dictate form. You could still build a typical single family McMansion in an area that adopted this list… if that’s what you’re into.

mr3martinison The symbolism of the magnifying glass is not universal

It’s not universal, so we’ll remove all icons?

Even if they couldn’t identify a universally understood icon, an existing user can recognize a familiar symbol faster than text, and symbols at least provide some clue that isn’t dependent on English comprehension.

mr3martinison I salvaged $6k of luxury items discarded by Duke students

Many apartment buildings have policies about where trash can be left, including at move out, otherwise there’s always trash around building entrances for the maintenance staff to clean up. Also, the Durham area is pretty suburban, so this apartment complex might not have much pedestrian traffic or even a sidewalk. It’s wasteful, but this is likely the situation.

mr3martinison Airbnb is in midlife crisis mode

How? The reviews aren’t visible until after the window of time to review is closed or the review has already been submitted. AFAIK there’s no way to retaliate.

mr3martinison The long-awaited Friend Compound laws in California

That’s absolutely not true. Higher population density almost always increases land values and it certainly would increase the total value of the land that was subdivided.

mr3martinison Master the Art of the Product Manager 'No'

This is great, can you make it into a slack app?

mr3martinison Cyclist hit by driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, police say

I was hit while riding a bike in a situation that sounds similar: I was biking behind a car. A driver headed in the opposite direction turned left and hit me. I was difficult for the turning driver to see because I was obscured by the vehicle I was following. The description is totally plausible. It also sounds like the biker may have ignored the stop sign.

mr3martinison Children, left behind by suburbia, need better community design

Can they walk to meet with their friends and get something to eat or drink?

Compared to nature and fields, a stimulating place to hang with friends around lots of other people gives a sense of independence and is a stronger draw for most.

mr3martinison OpenAI's board has fired Sam Altman

Looks like a capital issue.

mr3martinison Gear Patrol has acquired DPReview

Hopefully this means that they'll be able to maintain their thorough review format.

mr3martinison Utah passed law requiring everyone to show proof of age for social sites

Does anyone have insight into how they define ‘social’, intend to enforce this, or collisions with CCPA?

mr3martinison The Inverse Jim Cramer ETF

This video is amazing.

mr3martinison Fruit trees – SmartView Christchurch

https://cor.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=...

Richmond, VA does as well

mr3martinison Hangman Is a Weird Game

Excellent homestar runner reference.

mr3martinison Micro Hydro Turbine Is Far Cheaper Than Solar

There are lots of examples of DIY hydro that's even 'micro-er' on YouTube.

here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KyL1-0A0Gw

mr3martinison Marie Kondo Gives Up

My personal experience is that her book's process and tips are really helpful for living in small spaces and when you want to refresh your home. That's true even if you don't follow it to a T - you just need to use what works for you.

What I got from the philosophy is being more deliberate about what I own and how I maintain things, and an awareness of the subtle effects of clutter.

This isn't a great piece of journalism, but I hope that she shares more about adapting her principles to different situations and stages of life.

mr3martinison Tell HN: T-Mobile breach- double fuck up

T-Mo, under the metro brand.

mr3martinison When the CIA spied on American citizens using pigeons

I'm curious how the shutter was triggered and how many photos the camera could take. I assume that it used a timer?

mr3martinison Raiders of the Lost Ark turns 40, and is still an unqualified masterpiece (2021)

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/24/steven-soderber...

Soderbergh's 'recut' as a silent black and white movie with a Trent Reznor soundtrack gave me an appreciation for the cinematography and how much of the story is told visually, with no need for dialogue. Some of the tracks reappeared in HBO's Watchmen (also excellent).

mr3martinison “Laws” of software estimation for complex work (2021)

There are two ways to approach the problem of inaccurate estimation:

1. set a date and trim scope to hit it 2. set a scope with an understanding that the ETA is truly estimated and subject to change

Either way, stakeholders and the team have to fully understand and buy in on the approach.

When the approach isn't clear or when you promise both scope and delivery date, it's a highway to the danger zone.

mr3martinison ‘Perpetual broths’ that simmer for decades

Anyone intrigued by the idea of meals and flavors evolving over time from leftovers should read An Everlasting Meal, which describes similar techniques.

https://www.amazon.com/Everlasting-Meal-Cooking-Economy-Grac...